


Date Night Fright

by abrasivepersonalitytendersoul



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Father-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 10:21:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6654175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abrasivepersonalitytendersoul/pseuds/abrasivepersonalitytendersoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a little drabble I scribbled out.  It's kind of fluffy, but there's conflict in it.  I think it's cute.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Date Night Fright

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little drabble I scribbled out. It's kind of fluffy, but there's conflict in it. I think it's cute.

“Can you buzz me in?” He was here. The butterflies in your stomach were going crazy. 

“I’ll be down in a minute,” you shot back. He wasn’t going to meet your dad. Not tonight. You grabbed your jacket, smoothed your outfit one more time for good measure, and walked quickly toward the door. Your head was down and you nearly ran into your dad. He was preoccupied with case files so he didn’t see you either. Some of his coffee spilled out of his cup onto his shirt.

“¡Ay, lo siento, papí!” you screeched. Nothing had gotten on you, but that was your dad’s favorite shirt.

He chuckled, “It’s fine, princessa. Where are you off to in such a hurry? Is tonight the date with that Josh guy?”

“Dad, how did you know?” you gawked. You had a pretty good idea, but you wanted to hear it from him.

“Mi amor, you’ve been secretive and I was worried. Uncle Sonny dumped your phone,” he said.

“Dad! I can’t believe you did that! Don’t you trust me?” you said, raising your voice a little. Your father’s facial reaction put you right back in your place.

“I do trust you. It’s the other people I don’t trust. You’ve heard about some of the people I deal with. I’m looking out for you,” he said. He stuck the case files under his arm and placed his hand on your cheek.

“You could have just asked, you know. Josh is a good guy. He’s a starter on the basketball team and has multiple schools going after him for a scholarship.”

“You’re right. I guess it’s a habit of mine. Is he here? Is he coming up here to get you? I’d like to meet him.”

“He’s downstairs. I didn’t want to bother you. You said you were busy with the Hernandez case,” you said, trying to get past him and out the door.

“Invite him up here. No one is taking my daughter out without meeting me first.”

“Dad!”

“Sofia Lucia. Don’t argue with me.”

You knew better than to argue with your dad. He was Rafael Barba. Probably the best prosecuter in Manhattan. You sent him a text. “I’ll buzz you in. My dad wants to meet you. We are in 839.”

“You happy?” you asked.

“This date hasn’t started yet. I’ll ask your friend to leave. This is an invitation to turn your attitude around, young lady. You rolled your eyes. The Barba eye roll had become a famous reaction your dad inadvertently taught you growing up. Your sass was mostly his fault. He knew it, but he wouldn’t admit it. Another Barba trait.

There was a knock on the door. You opened the door and let Josh in. 

“Hi. This is my apartment. I live here. That’s my dad. You ready?” you just wanted to get this over with.

“Not so fast, sweetie. Josh, is it? Why don’t you have a seat? Sofia, why don’t you get your date some water? He looks a little parched.” You could tell your dad was settling into lawyer mode. It was funny when it was your older brother, but not when he did it for you. The boys sat down. Your dad was sipping his coffee and not breaking eye contact with Josh, who kept darting his eyes around the room. You were dying for an excuse to leave.

“So, Josh, what exactly are your plans with my daughter this evening?” your dad asked.

“I thought we would take a walk around Kiser Park and get some pizza. Sir,” Josh responded, completely nervous. You were used to your dad so you forgot how he came off to others. Everyone at school knew your mom. She volunteered to chaperone school events since you were in preschool. She had missed a lot of your brother’s childhood due to her job, and she didn’t want to make the same mistake with you.

“That sounds nice. What time do you think you’ll be having my daughter home? It’s a school night and usually I don’t let her stay out late,” his gaze was narrowing. It’s like he knew something neither you or Josh knew.

“We won’t be out late, Mr. Barba. Sofia will be home by 9 at the latest.”

Your dad leaned forward, set his coffee on the table, and probably took ten years off his life from the look he gave, “Josh, do you know what perjury is?”

“Dad. We need to leave. The stars are going to get clouded by the smog and we won’t get to see them. Let’s go, Josh.”

Josh looked like a deer in the headlights. Your dad could be terrifying if he wanted to be. At least Uncles Sonny, Mike, and Fin weren’t here. Uncle Fin liked to clean his gun in front of people, Uncle Sonny’s badge never left his belt, and Uncle Mike usually had his gym cutoff on. At least you knew you were always going to be protected.

“That sounds great. It was nice to meet you, Mr. Barba. Sir,” he stood and shook your father’s hand. He turned to you, placed his hand on your back to guide you out the door. Your father cleared his throat and tried to look busy with his case file again. Josh turned and looked sheepishly at him. You grabbed his arm and hurried you both out the door.

It was around 11:00 when you came home. You figured your dad was asleep, but you tried to get inside as quietly as possible. You had shut the door and locked it when the lights flipped on suddenly.

“Did you get lost?” your dad was sitting in his pajamas in the same seat he sat in before. Only this time he was drinking some scotch instead of coffee.

You jumped. Your dad was supposed to be in bed by now. “Uh...yeah. We got lost in the park. It isn’t lit as well at night as I thought.”

“Mhmm. And did you guys fall into a sewer?”

“No. We eventually found our way to the pizza parlor.”

“Aunt Amanda might have been out for a walk tonight and saw you with a group of people in the park. But not Kiser Park. Do you want to try again?”

“You had me followed? Dad!” you tried to storm out and to your room, but your dad’s voice stopped you.

“If you walk away from this conversation, things are going to get difficult for you.”

You stopped in your tracks. He did this to your brother and it was not pretty.

“What is there to talk about, Dad? You clearly know everything that happened. I didn’t see Uncle Sonny tonight! What did you have him doing? Did you have everyone follow me?”

“That’s none of your concern, Sofia. Why did you and Josh both lie to me?”

“We didn’t lie. We went to the park. We went to get pizza. Nothing happened. What does it matter to you?”

“Because those people that Josh took you to hang out with are dangerous people. Aunt Amanda and Uncle Sonny were out because they were about the bust them for drugs and trafficking. Do you know how lucky you are that you didn’t get taken? They are associated with the Hernandez’s. Josh isn’t who you think he is.”

“You’re wrong, Dad. Not everyone is a rapist. You’re just paranoid.”

He stood up and walked over to his briefcase and pulled out a file. He flipped it open and handed it to you. It had Josh’s picture in it, but that wasn’t Josh’s name next to it. “What’s this?” you asked. You knew but didn’t want to face it.

“Joseph Hernandez. He’s actually 20 and has been arrested for multiple drug and trafficking offenses since he was 16. His job is to find young girls and take them to his bosses.”

“If you knew this, then why did you let me go out with him?” you were trying to sound angry, but you were hurt. He had fought his whole life to shield you from these kinds of people.

“If I had known when he stopped by, I would have found a reason for you to stay in tonight. Your mom called me and told me about thirty minutes ago. She’s sending Uncle Sonny and Aunt Amanda to pick him and his buddies up yet tonight.”

You stepped closer to your dad and threw your arms around him. He returned the embrace and kissed your forehead. 

“I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier, Dad. You’re kind of scary when it comes to the boys I like.”

“It’s just because you’re my little girl and you always will be. I can’t excuse your behavior, though. You’re grounded until next Thursday after dinner. And your mom might have some words for you too.”

You couldn’t blame him for grounding you, but that didn’t make it any easier. If you had been your brother, things could have been worse.

You opened your mouth to speak, but you heard the door open. Your mom was home and out of breath. She looked pretty upset too.

“Sofia Lucia Barba! Do you know how worried I was about you?” your mom cried out.

“Mom, I’m fine. Dad just gave me the speech,” you responded, taking a step behind your dad. 

“I know, baby. You just scared me, that’s all.” she rushed toward you and pulled you into a hug.

“Olivia, it’s late and she needs to go to bed.”

“I know, just let me hold my baby.”

You went to bed a short time after. Your dad had already taken all your electronics before you got home. You were upset about having been followed on your date, but you drifted off to sleep knowing you had a whole team of people who had your back.


End file.
